A fundraiser this weekend will help raise money for a specialized therapy program that helps veterans and first responders manage mental health challenges through interactions with horses.
Deer Run Ranch Equine Connection utilizing the Stables of Strength program. CEO/President Teri Hamann said the organization collaborated with American Legion Post 163 in Crossville to develop the initiative.
“The horses are actually fantastic facilitators,” Hamann said. “They are often called divine mirrors. They mirror back to us what we’re giving to them. So they can read our energy from a very great distance. In fact, when people first arrive on the property, the horses pick up on their energy immediately. And they can feel your heartbeat from four feet away. So they’re real great at understanding the state that a person is in.”
Hamann said a retired Army battalion therapist serves as the mental health professional for the program to address symptoms of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Hamann said the animals require participants to practice self-regulation and grounding techniques before they will engage. The program emphasizes mindfulness by encouraging individuals to remain in the present moment rather than focusing on past events or future worries.
“Most participants report improved well-being, improved self-confidence, we’ve actually been able to because our therapy program outside of Stables of Strength, we have a lot of kids come here, we’ve actually been able to get kids off medication,” Hamann said. “So the horses have just an amazing effect on people. I’d love to say it was me, it has nothing to do with me, it is the power of the animals that do that.”
Hamann said one veteran used the program to identify how his body language and tense presence, often learned during military combat, were negatively affecting his job interviews. By observing how the horses reacted to his nonverbal cues, the veteran adjusted his communication style and successfully secured employment.
“We had a veteran who was dealing with tremendous anxiety and overall just kind of a feeling of anger and was totally not self-aware as to how he was coming across to people he was interacting with,” Hamann said. “And a great example of that is he kept going on job interviews and he kept getting denied. And that was just further fueling kind of this sense of anger and just not understanding, like he just couldn’t understand, like what am I doing wrong, or why am I not a fit for this?”
Equine therapy has existed as an alternative treatment since the 1960s. Hamann said the ranch provides a low-pressure, non-clinical environment that often allows for breakthroughs that traditional talk therapy in an office setting may not achieve.
“People can come here and they can just groom the horse and if they feel like talking they can talk and if they don’t feel like talking that day they don’t have to talk,” Hamann said. “But they get to enjoy the outdoors and the companionship of the animals and it’s still a good soothing day with no pressure.”
The second annual Stables of Strength Dinner takes place Saturday.
Hamann said the ranch does not charge veterans for these services. Funding for the program is provided through community fundraisers and dinners, with all proceeds covering the costs for veterans to participate.
